Fall 2015 Applicants

[PizzaFox]

Adding my name to the list! Super anxious, so anxious that I feel like hitting enter on this post is going to jinx everything somehow! I'm making it all real, aaaaah! I'm going to be applying to a combination of media studies and English programs, both PhD and MA, as my focus is going to be on digital humanities/games studies, digital texts, etc. I'm also considering early modern, however, so I guess I'll be applying to some programs as one emphasis and some as the other, seeing who bites? Is anyone else making two packets? If not, how do you narrow your field down when you have two strong interests/backgrounds?

[ProfLorax]

Adding my name to the list! Super anxious, so anxious that I feel like hitting enter on this post is going to jinx everything somehow! I'm making it all real, aaaaah! I'm going to be applying to a combination of media studies and English programs, both PhD and MA, as my focus is going to be on digital humanities/games studies, digital texts, etc. I'm also considering early modern, however, so I guess I'll be applying to some programs as one emphasis and some as the other, seeing who bites? Is anyone else making two packets? If not, how do you narrow your field down when you have two strong interests/backgrounds?

Welcome! About your two interests, how about combining them? Most DH faculty in my program (UMD, which has a huge emphasis on all things digital thanks to MITH) have a literary area of speciality as well. For example, Martha Nell Smith, founding director of MITH, works on digital humanities and poetry, leading to really interesting digital projects on Emily Dickinson. I'm sure lots of digital work is being done on early modern texts! 

[Dr. Old Bill]

Adding my name to the list! Super anxious, so anxious that I feel like hitting enter on this post is going to jinx everything somehow! I'm making it all real, aaaaah! I'm going to be applying to a combination of media studies and English programs, both PhD and MA, as my focus is going to be on digital humanities/games studies, digital texts, etc. I'm also considering early modern, however, so I guess I'll be applying to some programs as one emphasis and some as the other, seeing who bites? Is anyone else making two packets? If not, how do you narrow your field down when you have two strong interests/backgrounds?

 

Welcome, PizzaFox...and good luck to you over the next eight months of preparation-application-rejection-acceptance-jubilation!

 

It sounds like you have some interesting and diverse interests there. That's probably a good thing though! I'll be making two, if not three different kinds of applications. One of them will be focused primarily on transhistoric formalist poetry and poetics, another will be on late 19th - mid 20th century transatlantic literature, and I may put out one or two in the English Renaissance / Shakespeare direction. But honestly, I've been on GradCafe for a mere month and have already altered my potential focus a few times (but I'm certain about the poetics path now!)

 

My only "advice" in this regard is to simply do as much research as you can to find the best fitting schools of each discipline. I've narrowed down poetics programs to five or so institutions where I believe I'd be a great fit (and vice versa). I'm still figuring out the best fit for the other two areas, but will get there eventually. I'll be writing distinct SOPs (statements of purpose in Grad Cafe lingo) and will have two distinct WS (writing samples) to use. It's a bit more work, of course, but considering that grad school is most likely the last educational step before a long career in the industry, it's almost certainly worth a few more days / weeks of toil at this stage.

 

Either way, best of fortunes to you as you start your prep! I found going through the last thirty pages or so of Grad Cafe was time well spent...lots of great advice here.

 

Welcome again!

 

Shaun / Wyatt's Torch

[unræd]

Adding my name to the list! Super anxious, so anxious that I feel like hitting enter on this post is going to jinx everything somehow! I'm making it all real, aaaaah! I'm going to be applying to a combination of media studies and English programs, both PhD and MA, as my focus is going to be on digital humanities/games studies, digital texts, etc. I'm also considering early modern, however, so I guess I'll be applying to some programs as one emphasis and some as the other, seeing who bites? Is anyone else making two packets? If not, how do you narrow your field down when you have two strong interests/backgrounds?

 

I know exactly what you mean about even just posting about it making it seem real and concrete--which is an odd thing, when you think about it--in a way that all my prior discussion about it hadn't.

 

I'm not making two packets, but I briefly considered it. I am (probably, we'll see what my profs say) considering having two general 'tones' for my SOP, to try to make myself attractive to both the most hidebound and modern of programs--so not two wildly divergent applications, but maybe a slight shift in emphasis between the two.

[PizzaFox]

Welcome! About your two interests, how about combining them? Most DH faculty in my program (UMD, which has a huge emphasis on all things digital thanks to MITH) have a literary area of speciality as well. For example, Martha Nell Smith, founding director of MITH, works on digital humanities and poetry, leading to really interesting digital projects on Emily Dickinson. I'm sure lots of digital work is being done on early modern texts! 

 

That's actually a great idea, and is definitely one that I'm considering! And thanks for the heads up about Martha Nell Smith, I'll absolutely cheek her out.  The only problem with combining is that I am more interested in studying digital texts (games, interactive media, etc.) as literature than using digital methodologies, data analysis, etc. to analyze printed text. I'm still formulating WHAT I want to do, to be honest, but I'd much rather be in an English program than a media studies program for my PhD, although I am applying to media studies MA programs. I'm still in that impostor phase where everything I say about what I want to do sounds insane/dumb/ignorant, but I'm hoping that interacting with people on these forums will help me narrow my focus into something I can, at the very least, confidently put into words!

[PizzaFox]

And thanks Wyatt's Torch and unræd for your replies! You both gave excellent advice, and I look forward to getting to know y'all better!

 

Shaun, I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one! Your approach is similar to mine, so you've given me great confidence! Good luck with all of your prep as well!

[unræd]

I'm still formulating WHAT I want to do, to be honest, but I'd much rather be in an English program than a media studies program for my PhD, although I am applying to media studies MA programs. I'm still in that impostor phase where everything I say about what I want to do sounds insane/dumb/ignorant, but I'm hoping that interacting with people on these forums will help me narrow my focus into something I can, at the very least, confidently put into words!

 

THIS. Or, rather, these.

 

On the first, formulating an area of specific interest has definitely been the hardest part of the application process thus far (I say, as I'm not actually very far into the application process). My interests have always been very narrowly focused on the medieval period, and specifically on an even narrower slice within that, but I was never able to formulate a specific project; I kept meeting with professors/mentors about grad school apps and saying--quite honestly--that I'd be perfectly happy studying anything. We'd discuss possible ranges of topics, they'd give me reading lists/scholars to look at, but I'd still flap around like a bird distracted by a shiny object that doesn't quite know where it wants to go.

 

What I found most helpful in formulating what I want to do was to get out of my head a bit, stop over thinking it, and look at the problem a bit more concretely. I literally lined up all of the papers I'd written for classes more or less on my period on my desk, and said, "Well, okay, Unræd. Just what are you really interested in?" I took a good hard look at the papers' topics--and perhaps more importantly, their methodologies--and some real areas of coherence began to emerge, ones that I found I could plausibly construct into a (good God, hopefully) compelling SOP narrative. It's been hard to realize that as I come up with a firmer project I'm in the process "fitting" myself out of several schools I'd otherwise love to attend, but we'll see.

 

As to the second, from everything I hear the impostor phase doesn't really go away. I'm currently at a school with a program that is well respected within my field, if not tippy-top-tier, and the graduate students I know--who are all busy spending their summer researching in fancy European libraries or presenting at conferences--say that they still think everything that comes out of their mouths sounds "insane/dumb/ignorant," too. So we're in good company?

Edited July 3, 2014 by unræd

[Dr. Old Bill]

What a great post, Unræd! That really resonates with me, in fact. When I first started seriously looking at grad schools (as opposed to the general overview I did several months ago), I was very worried that I wouldn't hone in on a specialization. I love a wide swathe of literature and poetry, spanning from the English Renaissance to the mid-20th century, with only a few blips I don't care for in that range (like Joycian modernism). It was actually my wife who pointed out my poetry background and reminded me that my favorite course has been a research seminar on Shakespeare's Sonnets... So that allowed me to focus on grad schools that have specialists in traditional poetics and historical prosody etc. It is a fairly narrow field these days, but there are some high-level profs with similar interests at at least half a dozen great programs. So there's half of my application cycle right there. It's really just a case of doing like Unræd suggests and looking at all your papers and past coursework to see what tickled you the most. It's easy to overthink things. Once you start drafting your SOP you'll realize quite quickly whether or not your specific interest is right for you. After a first draft (which I sent out to a couple wonderful Grad Cafe members for a look-see), I was reminded that AdComms are looking for indications of your scholarship, as well as your general interests. And that's very good advice. If you can't talk at length about why a subject has interested you, then it might be worth reconsidering your potential specialization!

 

As for the other comment about feeling like an imposter here... don't! Because you're not! I get little shivers sometimes (good ones!) when I think about the possibility of being essentially paid to go to grad school to learn the material I love. But I don't think I'm not worthy, per se. It's still early in the process, but recognizing that you are a solid candidate is one of those lovely moments that will shape your application season. Of course, it might also raise your hopes a little too high, but I figure that's a decent enough trade-off.

[unræd]

After a first draft (which I sent out to a couple wonderful Grad Cafe members for a look-see), I was reminded that AdComms are looking for indications of your scholarship, as well as your general interests. And that's very good advice. If you can't talk at length about why a subject has interested you, then it might be worth reconsidering your potential specialization!

 

You're right--that does sound like great advice! One of the things I found about using past work to guide narrowing my focus is that it's allowing me to say "Oh, I've written about this, and this, and this," especially since my writing sample--while on my very narrow historical subfield, and easily the best written, most methodologically careful research I've done--is not quite as aligned with the theoretical interests in my SOP.

[toasterazzi]

Adding my name to the list! Super anxious, so anxious that I feel like hitting enter on this post is going to jinx everything somehow! I'm making it all real, aaaaah! I'm going to be applying to a combination of media studies and English programs, both PhD and MA, as my focus is going to be on digital humanities/games studies, digital texts, etc. I'm also considering early modern, however, so I guess I'll be applying to some programs as one emphasis and some as the other, seeing who bites? Is anyone else making two packets? If not, how do you narrow your field down when you have two strong interests/backgrounds?

 

I applied using a mix of samples and SOPs because I have a couple pretty significant interests, and I found a mix of schools that were aligned to those interests. It worked out pretty well overall I think. I will say that my MA program did help me focus quite a bit on what my interests really are. However, I still ended up with a variety even within that focus. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. Many of the profs I've known have a couple different major interests. I think that if you can find some way that they all overlap though, then that's probably pretty useful, at least for explaining it to people who want to know about your interests.

[hunterjumper]

Hi! Might as well add my two cents to this thread now that I've been lurking for months. I'll be also applying for Fall 2015, coming from a mid-ranked state school. My main field of interest is African American lit, but I have been playing around with that recently to broaden my scope (as I am a white female and have been told to be cautious about entering the field). I'm applying to a wide range of PhD programs but know that realistically I am more competitive for MA's, so will be applying to those as well. This forum has been one of the best sources for me to try and gain perspective on the process, and I really have to thank all of you for the wonderful information! 

[Dr. Old Bill]

Welcome, Hunterjumper!

 

I must admit that I'm a bit curious about who cautioned you about the field of African American lit, and why. In my experience, the opposite is often true...and that is borne out by going through the list of graduate students at various institutions. From what I can tell, a fairly large number of non-African-American students have a research interest in African American literature. Academically speaking, that makes perfect sense, even though I suspect there are some slightly outmoded views about it not being PC.

 

I don't claim to know any more or less about the process than anyone else in the 2015 application boat, but from what I've read across countless sources (including but not limited to Grad Cafe) AdComms are more interested in your scholarship than anything else. If you make the case that you have a strong interest in African American literature and can demonstrate that case with a strong writing sample, I suspect that in most instances your race won't get in your way.

 

For what it's worth, "The White House" by Claude McKay is among my favorite sonnets. Were it not for a more compelling interest in two other areas of literature, I could easily see myself going down the same path you are on...and I'm a white Canadian male!

 

 

Edited to add: Come to think of it, this would be the perfect time to reach out to current grad students, like I mentioned in a recent thread topic. Race is a very sensitive issue in this country, but a well-framed email to a grad student or two in a program you are interested should help you to figure out if it's uncommon to have a non-African-American in an African-American lit course. I strongly suspect that it's not, but again, the best authorities on that are folks currently in those programs.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Wyatt's Torch

[hunterjumper]

Thank you for the warm welcome! I think I am going to try to contact a few and see where that will get me. I have had two different professors (one black and one white, for what it's worth) caution me about the field. Less about acceptance into a program, but more about my realistic chances of being hired as a professor of Af Am lit. But your advice is so helpful, and your taste in poetry is impeccable!

[ProfLorax]

hunterjumper: I heard the same advice for the same reasons. My suggestion would be to think about how to present your research in a more nuanced, complex way that could potentially open multiple doors for you. An example would be if you were interested in digital archives of Harlem Renaissance poetry. Then, when on the job market, you could market yourself as a digital humanist, a 20th century Americanist, and/or an Af-Am lit scholar--whichever is more advantageous at the time. In general, I think strong candidates (both at the grad school and job market level) articulate multiple yet overlapping interests. This, I'd assume, is especially helpful on the job market. Our most recent TT hire can teach courses on cross-cultural rhetoric, activist rhetoric, and digital rhetoric-- all because of his research on historical and contemporary Thai protest rhetoric. 

[Dr. Old Bill]

I noticed today that Professor Maxwell at Washington University in St. Louis is the DGS of the English program, has joint appointment with African and Afro-American Studies, and also happens to be white. So if nothing else, it shows that your proposed career path is not unheard of, at least.

 

 

--------

 

 

By the way folks, the equivalent Grad Cafe thread for last year was already up to 32 pages by this date! Does this mean that there are fewer applicants this year, or is everyone just really really quiet?

[mikers86]

I noticed today that Professor Maxwell at Washington University in St. Louis is the DGS of the English program, has joint appointment with African and Afro-American Studies, and also 

By the way folks, the equivalent Grad Cafe thread for last year was already up to 32 pages by this date! Does this mean that there are fewer applicants this year, or is everyone just really really quiet?

 

We can only hope there are fewer and fewer applicants as years go on. Unfortunately, my guess is things are just really quiet.

[littlepigeon]

By the way folks, the equivalent Grad Cafe thread for last year was already up to 32 pages by this date! Does this mean that there are fewer applicants this year, or is everyone just really really quiet?

 

...we can hope!!! I've been amazed at how slowly things here are (or aren't, rather) picking up, too. Perhaps there will be a sudden influx of a hundred new members in a few weeks...but until then, I'm going to pretend that I'm going to be amongst an applicant pool of eight other medievalists. 

[unræd]

...we can hope!!! I've been amazed at how slowly things here are (or aren't, rather) picking up, too. Perhaps there will be a sudden influx of a hundred new members in a few weeks...but until then, I'm going to pretend that I'm going to be amongst an applicant pool of eight other medievalists. 

 

They'll have to court us! We'll each be able to get our top choice!

[queennight]

...we can hope!!! I've been amazed at how slowly things here are (or aren't, rather) picking up, too. Perhaps there will be a sudden influx of a hundred new members in a few weeks...but until then, I'm going to pretend that I'm going to be amongst an applicant pool of eight other medievalists. 

 

Don't know about you guys, but I'm going to take this news ecstatically and continue tearing through season 1 of Hannibal on Netflix instead of studying for my English Lit GRE. I mean, now that we don't have to worry about the competition, right?!?!?!?!? RIGHT?!

[Dr. Old Bill]

Actually, I think part of the reason might be that the validation system was broken! A few days ago, I tried to change my email, which required a validation email sent to my OTHER email address. Well, that email never came through, and I've been locked out of Grad Cafe for the last three days. Finally this morning I tried it and voila! A validation email was sent, and I'm no longer in GC limbo... (So if anyone tried PMing me over that time, it probably didn't go through...)

 

Incidentally, while I was but a shade traversing purgatory, able to watch the world but not participate, I noticed that there was a backlog of hundreds of new registrants, all in the "validating" stage as well. May those poor souls find their way to the tangible world once again.

 

 

 

P.S.: Queennight: my wife and I LOVE Hannibal! We haven't seen Season 2 yet, because we usually binge-watch things instead of watching them live, so...no spoilers, anyone!

Edited August 10, 2014 by Wyatt's Torch

[hreaðemus]

I can vouch for that! I've been poking my nose around these forums for a few weeks, and was only able to validate my account today... so this is my first post. Hello! *waves*

 

I'm afraid that the "hopeful medievalist" applicant pool will be at least 9 this year, as I'm hoping to apply to Ph.D. programs to study Anglo-Saxon literature this fall. I'm fairly new to all of this, to be honest - I'm in my late 20's, and transferred from a community college to my current (quite good? I think? I'm not exactly sure how the R1 R2 thing works) undergraduate institution in fall 2013, promptly fell in love with my "Anglo-Saxon England" introductory course, and have since been lucky enough to receive an incredible amount of support, both monetarily and emotionally, from the faculty and research programs in my department. I'd really love to stay here for grad school - my mentor is basically my favorite person on earth, and spot-on in terms of the research I want to do - but it's not generally encouraged, so of course I'm applying elsewhere as well.

 

As I said, I'm new to all of this, so I'm basically flying by the seat of my pants in terms of applications! I recently took the GRE and got 170 V, 153 Q, which is... well, acceptable but not ideal. I'm going to focus now on really strengthening the rest of my application, and then will test again in October if I feel I'll be able to improve my Q score.

 

I feel like applying to grad school is sort of like planning a wedding BEFORE you ask your partner to marry you: oodles of time, oodles of money, and in the end he or she still might say... no. 

 

Anyway, nice to meet you all! I'm glad we're in this together!

[bhr]

I can vouch for that! I've been poking my nose around these forums for a few weeks, and was only able to validate my account today... so this is my first post. Hello! *waves*

 

I'm afraid that the "hopeful medievalist" applicant pool will be at least 9 this year, as I'm hoping to apply to Ph.D. programs to study Anglo-Saxon literature this fall. I'm fairly new to all of this, to be honest - I'm in my late 20's, and transferred from a community college to my current (quite good? I think? I'm not exactly sure how the R1 R2 thing works) undergraduate institution in fall 2013, promptly fell in love with my "Anglo-Saxon England" introductory course, and have since been lucky enough to receive an incredible amount of support, both monetarily and emotionally, from the faculty and research programs in my department. I'd really love to stay here for grad school - my mentor is basically my favorite person on earth, and spot-on in terms of the research I want to do - but it's not generally encouraged, so of course I'm applying elsewhere as well.

 

As I said, I'm new to all of this, so I'm basically flying by the seat of my pants in terms of applications! I recently took the GRE and got 170 V, 153 Q, which is... well, acceptable but not ideal. I'm going to focus now on really strengthening the rest of my application, and then will test again in October if I feel I'll be able to improve my Q score.

 

I feel like applying to grad school is sort of like planning a wedding BEFORE you ask your partner to marry you: oodles of time, oodles of money, and in the end he or she still might say... no. 

 

Anyway, nice to meet you all! I'm glad we're in this together!

You are going to retake the GRE? Unless your essay score is poor (like, <3) I can't see how that would benefit you. 323 combined, with a perfect verbal, is going to be good enough for any program you would consider (afaik). No one is going to be looking at your quant score.

[hreaðemus]

You are going to retake the GRE? Unless your essay score is poor (like, <3) I can't see how that would benefit you. 323 combined, with a perfect verbal, is going to be good enough for any program you would consider (afaik). No one is going to be looking at your quant score.

 

Do you think so? I've been told that the quantitative/overall GRE scores are used to determine who gets fellowships within a cohort, and I guess I'm nervous that without an excellent score I'll be passed over for funding. As I said, though, I'm sort of just making this up as I go... so that's helpful feedback! I'll keep your advice in mind. I haven't gotten my essay scores back, but I paid for the ScoreItNow! ETS service beforehand and got a 5, so I'm hopeful that my actual scores will be similar.

[viviandarkbloom]

Do you think so? I've been told that the quantitative/overall GRE scores are used to determine who gets fellowships within a cohort, and I guess I'm nervous that without an excellent score I'll be passed over for funding. As I said, though, I'm sort of just making this up as I go... so that's helpful feedback! I'll keep your advice in mind. I haven't gotten my essay scores back, but I paid for the ScoreItNow! ETS service beforehand and got a 5, so I'm hopeful that my actual scores will be similar.

 

I got into three 'top 20' programs (with full funding etc) last year with a 12th percentile quant score. I reckon retaking would be a waste of your time and money.

[unræd]

I can vouch for that! I've been poking my nose around these forums for a few weeks, and was only able to validate my account today... so this is my first post. Hello! *waves*

 

I'm afraid that the "hopeful medievalist" applicant pool will be at least 9 this year, as I'm hoping to apply to Ph.D. programs to study Anglo-Saxon literature this fall. I'm fairly new to all of this, to be honest - I'm in my late 20's, and transferred from a community college to my current (quite good? I think? I'm not exactly sure how the R1 R2 thing works) undergraduate institution in fall 2013, promptly fell in love with my "Anglo-Saxon England" introductory course, and have since been lucky enough to receive an incredible amount of support, both monetarily and emotionally, from the faculty and research programs in my department. I'd really love to stay here for grad school - my mentor is basically my favorite person on earth, and spot-on in terms of the research I want to do - but it's not generally encouraged, so of course I'm applying elsewhere as well.

 

As I said, I'm new to all of this, so I'm basically flying by the seat of my pants in terms of applications! I recently took the GRE and got 170 V, 153 Q, which is... well, acceptable but not ideal. I'm going to focus now on really strengthening the rest of my application, and then will test again in October if I feel I'll be able to improve my Q score.

 

I feel like applying to grad school is sort of like planning a wedding BEFORE you ask your partner to marry you: oodles of time, oodles of money, and in the end he or she still might say... no. 

 

Anyway, nice to meet you all! I'm glad we're in this together!

 

Damn it! 9?! 

 

I kid, I kid. Welcome, hreathemeus! (I'm on vacation, and the computer I'm using can't make an eth--forgive me!)

 

I'm struggling with the same issue--I love the program I'm in (at a big R1 state school w/ two Anglo-Saxonists in the department), and would be happy to stay there. The faculty is encouraging me to apply there, and I am, but I know there is that certain stigma!

 

In re the GRE, from what I know of my own department, scores are often used to determine funding (or, rather, to apply for funding on your behalf)--but, to be blunt, you do already have an excellent score. And as far as actual admission itself goes, I wouldn't sweat the quant--to add to viviandarkbloom's experience, I have a prof (who finished his PhD relatively recently, from Notre Dame) who answered straight C for the entire quantitative portion, and did just fine in admissions, obviously. (NB: I'm not suggesting anyone do that.) Obviously one should do everything one can to make the application as strong as possible, so I totally get your impulse to take again, but I wouldn't sell your current self short! Will you be sitting the subject test this fall?